miller_Kay

Lmao. Don't listen to these people. Your "ceremony" was really just a "celebration of your love" and you didn't sign any documents so youre good. So you should make sure you use the "celebration of your love" in your interview as well instead of the word "ceremony" bc people who don't listen properly will misunderstand. What you did mess up in doing is applying for k1 over marriage visa. Historically k1 was faster processing time, but now it is not the case and marriage visas are prioritized. You are very lucky you are with your spouse, that made all the difference in our 16+month wait for our k1 visa. 

It doesn't matter "where" you live with your spouse, only that you can prove your intentions to live in the USA after her visa is approved.

Do NOT attempt to change embassies though. It can add *months* to the process in some cases, just to transfer between embassies. Last I checked Bangkok has a very good turn over rate and the timeline is super quick. 

My now husband and I also lived in Thailand during our waiting process and found it incredibly easy to get visa extensions. As well as a multitude of different types of visas for say "Thai language learning, or Muai Thai" even various other languages and a cooking school visa. Anyway I'm just saying, look into the option of staying there if you can.

4 minutes ago, Marklor said:

What if you have a long-term visa? 1 year or more, for instance, as a remote worker?

1, your russian fiance would have to actually have a remote work job.  2, I do not believe any of these countries offer temporary residence permits for remote workers. 3, if you find evidence that they do, please write back here in the chat. 

It's really difficult to get temporary permits in these countries. Typically cant do it unless you work or study in one of those countries. 😅 been there, tried that. 

12 minutes ago, Emerick said:

After 31 days my fiancé sent a request to NVC about our case and after 15 more long days I sent a request to them 3 hours ago and low and behold! They sent us an email and we got our NVC # and the email said they would be sending our files to his consulate and the consulate would contact him when they are ready to process his file. On the CEAC website it says our case is in transit and your interview date has been provided by the NVC. But they didn’t so I’m assuming they will contact us or when it says ready he will be able to set the interview date and the medical appointment....right? Either way I’m excited 🤩 I haven’t gotten the physical letter so I don’t know when they actually received my case but I know it’s in transit!!!!!! YAY!!!!

 Congrats @Emerick And thank you for updating everyone! What email address did you write them at to check up 3hours ago? Our NOA2 is june 24th, so hopefully we will also hear soon. 

On 8/6/2022 at 6:45 PM, StevenInAtlanta said:

@miller_Kay  1 year visa was granted.  The Italian embassy is swamped so we used a service and paid an additional fee to have it expedited.  The expedite fee was close to $500 and it took less than 10 days to get the visa. Otherwise it was going to take 6-10 weeks.

 

@StevenInAtlantaYour original post says you got a Greece visa, but this one says Italy haha. Which one is it? And how long within that 1 year span, is she actually allowed to be inside that country? 

On 5/19/2022 at 8:40 PM, DK999 said:

Hello all, our I-130 has been under review for 5 months, and we want to get prepared for the next step in the process. We are anticipating that our interview will be in Warsaw because my wife is Russian. However, we don't live in Russia. We were visiting before the war and left shortly after it started. Now we are traveling around and will be in the Balkans for the next several months.

 

So, my question is, can she apply for a Schengen visa outside of Russia? My brief googling indicates that technically she can, but I wanted to ask if anyone here has had success with this. Either way, we're still going to visit the Greek embassy in Belgrade and possibly Sarajevo and ask in person. 

Did you have any success? 

38 minutes ago, tcrossle said:

I received an email yesterday saying I am now able to schedule an interview!

CONGRATS!! 

On 8/5/2022 at 11:56 PM, tcrossle said:

NVC just received our I-129F!

NOA1: May 10th, 2021

NOA2: June 22nd, 2022

NVC Receive: August 5th, 2022

 

approx. 44 days

 

We just booked the plane ticket a few hours ago without knowing it would be sent out today haha!

We are so excited, and hope all of you get your cases sent out soon!

Did you get your shipment notification to the embassy/consulate yet? 

@StevenInAtlanta how long was your Russian wife/fiance granted a Greece tourist visa for? 

2 minutes ago, To_the_moon said:

I had the same info a week ago about not being allowed to schedule your interview and medical exam without the NVC number. However, I am a part of the Russian group for K1 visas and was told that we actually CAN do that. There are people who already went through the process, so I trust the info. I personally already paid and scheduled our appointment in Warsaw with no issues, no NVC number was asked. 

 

In regards to the visa, I applied for a tourist visa in August 2021 and got a 3-year multiple entry visa. I believe you were misinformed, as they are still issuing these visas. My father got one in May this year. I can suggest a tourist agency who helped us (costs around $500 for their service), or you can also apply yourself which is cheaper but a little more complicated. The agency does everything for you,, you only send your passport to them. 

Huh. Interesting. Thanks for sharing! Do you mind linking the Russian K1 visa group for me to join? 

19 minutes ago, To_the_moon said:

Same here. My fiancé is also from Russia, and we have close NOA2 dates, so I guess we are in the same boat. But fortunately I am with him in Russia right now, as we are waiting on our departure. We haven't tried to expedite our case due to sanctions, we were just patiently waiting. 

 

My advise is to schedule your interview in Warsaw asap, the current dates are in February 2023, but usually someone cancels their appointment every other day, so you may get a closer date. Also, we just scheduled his medical exam in Moscow, because the current backlog is 2 months and only appointments in October are available. So I am just hoping to get everything done in advance while waiting on our NVC case 

I read on US Embassy Warsaw website that they send you an appointment notice for an interview when you are eligible. And that you cant schedule the medical exam until after you recieve NVC code and embassy appointment. Where are you getting your information from? 

Also, did you already have a Russian visa prior to the war? I tried to apply for one in September 2021, but they told me they weren't proccessing applications anymore. 

4 hours ago, sourumeboshi said:

We emailed the NVC for our case number and they told us they didn't have it. But then emailed again and said they DO have it and will send us instructions "soon". Super frustrating just give me the case number pls! 

When did you write them to check the first time?

"soon" is the most common word used between my fiance and I. We keep saying, don't worry! It will be here soon! As we enter month 15 of what use to be a 3-6 month process, it is hard not to be discouraged. I'm sure you can all relate. 

6 hours ago, To_the_moon said:

Our NOA2 date is June 29, still haven't heard anything from NVC. Can you please share the email address you tried to expedite your case at? I tried to email them after the 30 day rule had passed but got a response to contact them using the Public Inquiry tool, which apparently takes 2 months to response.

I just sent an email to the NVC expedite NVCExpedite@state.gov (I requested expedite because my fiance is Russian, and bc of sanctions I cant send money to support him and multiple other sanction related issues) you have to include Beneficiary’s Full Name, DOB, phone number/email, petitioner full name, DOB, phone number/email, case #, reason for expedite, and your NOA1 & NOA2 timeline dates. 

56 minutes ago, Emerick said:

I was under the impression they sent them in batches as they were completed so, if USCIS approved someone out of order then the NVC would receive them out of order. It would be a bit unfair to be approved but then have them wait to send it until all the others before you got their approvals. Now had they been doing it in order in the first place it would make sense

Yea, I guess I am most concerned because someone with Noa2 June 29th is already nvc received and in transit to the embassy. While my noa2 june 24th is not even at the nvc. So it leads me to believe they are also just sending them in weird batches. Which is definitely unfair 

2 hours ago, Etherial said:

Its a puzzle really why some cases are still at uscis and why some others are at nvc.

One May filer today informed us that: NOA2 June 29th and we got our NVC notification today that it is being sent to the Embassy in Australia!!

This is what I want to know too. Even more, how are some cases still at USCIS and others IN Transit to the embassy. It feels like this step in the process is also processed out of order, just like the processing of the original i-129f where cases in august were being approved before May. Such stress. Congrats to everyone whose cases are in-transit and at nvc! I hope everyone else is not far behind 

Tried to expedite our case at nvc, only to find out NVC doesn't even have my case yet. We received NOA2 on June 24th. I'm pretty worried, and had to send a follow-up email to a seperate address asking them to find my case😅 Anyone else experience this?